What's interesting is there were collectors who were not happy to see all those cards go to a museum, since it would take them out of circulation. And you know, they may have a very good point. We all praise Burdick for his monumental gift of hundreds of thousands of cards, but looking at it today was it really the best idea? It is very hard to get to see them, and they mostly exist in an obscure room that few know exists. I bet many of them have not been seen in years. I was there over the summer to see an art exhibition (Franz Hals) and passed by the room where the collection is housed. It's very hard to find for starters, and outside the room were a few dozen cards in frames that people were passing by and not even looking at.
So a good topic for discussion might be should the museum forever keep this massive collection that is hardly ever viewed, or should the collection one day be deaccessioned?
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